Pennsylvania House Bill 2801 would prohibit sweepstakes games while creating a regulated path for skill-game machines at specified businesses, as the state approaches an Oct. 13 court deadline after which unlicensed machines face enforcement.
The measure, introduced by Republican Rep. Russ Diamond and referred to the House Gaming Oversight Committee on Sept. 24, remained there with no hearing or vote scheduled. Gambling.com reported on the bill’s sweepstakes-casino ban and proposed skill-game framework.
As reported in September, Diamond had already put forward a plan to legalize and tax Pennsylvania skill games before the Supreme Court deadline.
HB 2801 would allow up to five skill-game, or video-gaming-terminal, machines at clubs, liquor-licensed bars and restaurants, and qualified truck stops. Gross terminal revenue would be taxed at 20%.
The legislation would amend Titles 4 and 53 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes and also contain provisions affecting fantasy contests, slot-machine licensing, table games, interactive gaming and sports wagering. It would cut the tax rate on casino slot machines to 49.9% and set the same 49.9% rate for online casino games.
It would also revise the distribution of gaming-tax proceeds among the Race Horse Development Trust Fund, the Compulsive and Problem Gambling Treatment Fund, the Property Tax Relief Fund and the General Fund. Diamond said the wider two-bill package, including HB 2802, was intended to deliver nearly $1 billion in additional property-tax relief, although those projections are part of the sponsor’s plan rather than enacted policy.
Diamond, the Republican chairman of the Gaming Oversight Committee, said Pennsylvania’s gaming law was written for a “much different era” and required change. He said the package followed 18 months of discussions with legal-gaming interests, skill-game operators, regulators and the public.
The proposal responds to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s June 15 ruling that skill-game devices are subject to both the Gaming Act and the Crimes Code. The court overturned Commonwealth Court decisions that had treated unlicensed devices as outside those laws, finding that 2017 statutory amendments made the element of skill legally insignificant to whether a machine qualified as a slot machine.
The justices stayed their order for 120 days, expressly leaving the General Assembly free to act. That stay ends Oct. 13. Pennsylvania State Police enforcement is scheduled to begin Oct. 14, when maintaining, selling or leasing machines without Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board licensing can trigger criminal prosecution, seizure and forfeiture.
About 70,000 skill-game devices have operated in Pennsylvania after nearly 15 years without a comprehensive statewide regulatory system. HB 2801 remains awaiting committee action as the enforcement date approaches.
